


Picking the team

by dauntlesspokemonride



Series: Static Quake One-Shots [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, One-Shots, Prompts Accepted, mood depends, most pre relationship, some during
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-06 18:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4232037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dauntlesspokemonride/pseuds/dauntlesspokemonride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye asks Lincoln to join her team of Inhumans, and despite what he says, she knows that she has to find a way to get him to join it in the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Picking the team part 1

**Picking the Team: Part 1**

I quickly flip through the blue file folder Coulson had given me earlier. As it turns out, I’m going to lead a team of Inhumans. I laugh to myself. It looks like Raina had been right all along. We could be like the Avengers, but less famous. The whole keep-the-team-a-secret-and-anonymous part pretty much sealed that fate. I guess we’d also be less cool since we aren’t going to save the world from Loki, or from Ultron. But that’s not what matters. It’s the people we save, the people we get to help hide from society that matters. If people knew about the Inhumans, we’d be treated like outsiders and experimented on.  My team is going to keep them and everyone else on the planet safe.

 

Before I can help anyone, I need a team. I put the folder down. I need to clear my head. I get up, deciding to talk a walk. It’ll help me decide who to put on the team. As long as I get one member decided, I’ll be happy.

 

I stand up and walk out of the room. As of right now, I only had one member on my team. Me. I don’t know who else should join. I know a few people who I don’t want on the team, but I don’t know a single person who I want on the team. I spot Fitz looking at something on a computer through an open door. Fitz was smiling at the screen like smiley giraffe. Unless he was watching some hilarious Youtube videos, I don’t why he would be smiling at his computer. Time to investigate.

 

“Whatcha looking at?” I ask him as I step into the room, inconspicuously trying to see what he was looking at from the doorway. Drat. I’m too far away.

 

“Dinner,” he responds without looking up from the screen.

 

I walk closer to the computer, reading some of the restaurants that were displayed on the monitor as they came into my sight. “You going somewhere nice to eat?”

 

“Um, yeah.”

 

“By yourself?” Fitz doesn’t answer. He’s hiding something.

 

“Fitz?” Still no answer.

 

If he isn’t going by himself, then he has to be going with someone. It couldn’t be Hunter, because he was with Bobbi. Actually, if it was a guy, I’d figure he’d tell me. So that means that is has to be a girl. May was leaving, he wasn’t fond of Weaver, Bobbi was hurt, and it certainly wasn’t me so that left…

 

I gasp and Fitz turns around. “What?” he asks.

 

I grin evilly. “You’re going to go to dinner with Jemma, aren’t you?”

 

He pauses for a moment. “Yes.”

 

I squeal and try to dash out of the room. I have to spread the news. It’s about time those two got together. And to think all my attempts at matching making had epically failed.

 

“Skye,” he calls out, managing to grab my arm.  “You can’t tell anyone, Skye.I don’t want everyone on the base to find out because you told them. Jemma and I are perfectly capable of, uh, telling them ourselves.” He blushes a little, probably thinking about his date.

 

“Fine,” I respond, pouting a little bit. “I’ll just ask Jemma how it went when you guys get back.”

 

He nods, and begins to step back as I broke out into a run.

 

“Guess what?” I yell out to anyone who’ll listen. “Fitz is going out on a date with Jemma!” I laugh.

 

I hear Fitz yelling at me as I spread the word. Sorry Fitz, but I bet you know that I’m you and Jemma’s number one fan. I just have to spread the news. I smile as I run through the base.

 

Two hours later, I finally get a chance to go on my walk. As it turns out, everyone on the base was excited to hear the news. Who knew Agent Weaver was such a gossip? At first Fitz was a bit mad, but then he got over it as everyone congratulated him. He made his way back to computer to avoid further embarrassment. That was because the rest of us were telling stories and talking about what would happen during the date. Good times.

 

I smile as the wind sweeps my hair off my shoulders. It’s been awhile since I went out to think. To walk. Last time had been...at Afterlife. But Afterlife no longer exists. Their leader, who just happened to be my mom, was evil. She was going to kill everyone at Shield. But I wasn’t brave enough to stop her. I thought I could change her mind because I was her daughter, but I was wrong. My dad saved me as Jiaying was sucking my life from me. As she was killing me. My dad saved me by completing his only promise to my mom. He saved me from her.

 

My dad was living a new life now. A life without the pain or regret from his old one. He’s a vet now, and  he doesn’t remember me. I smile. Despite everything, he wasn’t a bad father. Now he’s getting a second chance.

 

I turn around, taking in the view. I can barely see the base from here. The view from here is amazing. Not as amazing as the views in Afterlife, but they’re beautiful in their own way. The only difference was that I’d never cause an avalanche out here. There’s too much risk. Plus, there’s no way someone would be waiting to give me food when I got back. Nothing can really replace Afterlife, or the people I meet there. I guess the only one that I can still talk to is Lincoln. Part of the reason is because he’s not evil, and he’s also not dead. Everyone else I knew in Afterlife is dead now.

 

The only problem is that I haven’t seen Lincoln since he saved me. He left without saying goodbye. Not that I’ll admit to anyone, but it stung a little bit. It almost felt like he didn’t care enough to say goodbye; that I really wasn’t his good friend. I’m assuming that he went back to Cincinnati to go back to med school, but I don’t know.

 

I make it to the top of a hill. Looking around, there’s a lot of ocean. I can’t see the base from where I am. I look over at the barren landscape below me, and smile. In order to start my Inhuman team, which I’m considering calling the Secret Warriors, I need someone I can trust. A friend who can help me put the team together. And Lincoln seems like a pretty good start.

* * *

 

A few weeks pass before I get the chance to talk to Coulson about my team. I spent the walk back to the base thinking about the best time to break the news to him. But when I came back, the base was in a panic. I ran into Fitz, who informed me that Jemma was missing. He was on his way to check the security footage. I went with him.

 

The footage, while showing us what really happened, made things seem bleak. We saw Jemma getting swallowed by the Kree rock thing. The door was left wide open after she got swallowed. I also noticed that Fitz skipped past the part where he asked Jemma to dinner, but that wasn't the time to tease him about it. His best friend was missing. Our friend was missing, and the only two people who knew what the rock did are dead.

 

We spent the next week trying to find answers. We did research and searched through through the files we recovered from Afterlife with no avail. There was a chance that a few Inhumans knew what happened to Jemma. For the time being, they were our only lead.

 

The only Inhuman I know is Lincoln, and he knows most of the other Inhumans. So, I deduced, that by telling Coulson that I wanted Lincoln on my team, I could also say that he could help us find Jemma. A win-win situation. There was no way Coulson could say no to that.

 

I walk into Coulson's office. He looks up from the papers he’s reading.

 

"Skye," he says, waiting for me to speak. He still has his arm in a sling, but it was better to be missing an arm the than be dead. He hadn't replaced it yet. It’s probably a side effect of losing a team member, and a friend. We all had to make sacrifices to find Jemma, because she's what matters most right now.

 

"I think I found a member for my team. Of Inhumans," I add. "I think he might be able to help us find out what happened to Jemma."

 

Coulson looks intrigued. "That's great," he says. "We could use some help. Who do you have in mind?"

 

“Well, I was thinking of asking Lincoln to join my team. Besides Gordon, he was one of Jiaying's favorites, do he might know about the rock, or know of someone who does."

 

Coulson doesn't look surprised. "Are you sure he'll be up to it?"

 

I consider this for about a half second before answering. “Of course he’ll be up for it."

 

Coulson looks at me like knows something I don’t. He has this weird smile on his face. “Sound’s great. Once you find Lincoln, tell me what he says. If he agrees, he’s going to need a bunk here at Shield, at least, until you get your team together. He'll be a great asset.”

 

“Do you know where Lincoln is?”

 

“You’re our hacker Skye. If anyone can find him, it’s you.”

* * *

 

The following morning, I search street camera footage, hoping to catch sight of Lincoln.  After a twelve long hours of searching, I pinpoint Lincoln’s location. Looks like he was avoiding the cameras. He was last seen by a hotel camera in Cincinnati.

 

After some well earned beauty sleep, Coulson lets me go to Cincinnati. He wanted me to take a Quinjet, but I decided that it would be easier if I drove there. It only took me twelve hours to reach Cincinnati. I found parked the car and slept in my car for a few hours. Who knew driving could be so tiring?

 

After I wake up, I drive around until I find the Hilton Garden Inn. Lincoln had been spotted entering that hotel. I’m guessing he was on vacation or something. I mean why else would someone be in a hotel? If you're not staying there, on a work trip, or trying to recruit someone for your superhuman team, you wouldn’t. Lucky for me, I feel into the latter category. It was pretty late, and I was exhausted, so I decided to stay at the hotel for the night. I’ll find Lincoln tomorrow. If I went now, he’d probably be sleeping, or I’d fall asleep talking to him.

 

The following morning,I have a lovely breakfast. Food always tastes so good. Putting the food aside, I knew it was time to come up with a plan. I made my way down to the lobby and sat down in an uncomfortable looking chair. It didn’t disappoint.  I thumb through the file folder one more time and begin to run through my options.

 

As of know I have three options. The first one is to sit here and wait for Lincoln to enter the lobby. Nah, that would take too long. There’s a big possibility that Lincoln won’t even show up. Option two is...not an option really. I could cause an earthquake, forcing the residents into the lobby, but that’d be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to risky. Who knows if everyone would even make it to the lobby, or if they would end up uninjured. No way...this is officially the worst option ever. I can’t believe I’m even considering this. The third option seems like the best option. I could ask the receptionist for Lincoln’s room. I glanced at the folder, and smile. A prop was just what I needed.

 

I gather my belongings, and my nerves, as I casually walk up to the lady at the counter.

 

“Hello,” she says, looking up at me. “Are you checking in?”

 

“No,” I respond with a slight smile. I resist the urge to say that I checked out earlier this morning. That would make this conversation seem weird. “I just have to deliver something. My friend Lincoln Campbell said he has an important meeting tomorrow, but he left his papers back in the lab,” I say, waving the folder. “He said he was staying here. Could you tell me what room he’s in? He doesn’t have a phone, so I couldn’t ask him.” I gestured at the folder on more time for effect.  
  


“Sure, darling,” the lady said. “If I were him, I’d be lucky to have a friend like you. He’s in room 302. Do you want me to call him for you?”

 

“No thanks,” I respond, relieved that she went along with it. “I want to surprise him,” I add, smiling after the last comment. Lincoln would be surprised if the lady called him. That would be disastrous.

 

“Alright, darling,” She wore the same smile that lit up Coulson’s face the other day when I brought up Lincoln. Weird. “Have a nice day.”

 

“You too,” I say before walking over to the nearest elevator.

 

As I walk away, I think I hear the receptionist say “kids,” and chuckle. I glance over at her, and she’s shaking her head.  I can feel my cheeks heat up as I stop in front of the elevator and wait for the doors to open. It’s not Lincoln and I are dating or anything. We’re just friends, right? I shake my head. There was no way that I’m going to let the words of a hotel receptionist get to me. I’m the Shield agent.

 

After what feels like an eternity, the elevator doors slide open. I quickly step in and run through different opening sentences as the elevator lifts me to third floor. Even though I acted confident with Coulson, my doubts about Lincoln never disappeared. I don’t doubt Lincoln’s powers, but I’m not sure that he’ll agree to come with me. The elevator doors open and I step out. I proceed to following the signs to room 302.

 

Well, I think to myself, it’s now or never. You got this. I take a deep breath before knocking on his door. There’s no going back now. Looks like I’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

 

A minute passes and the door remains closed. It’s possible that Lincoln left.I raise my fist and knock a second time. I hold my breath, hoping that Lincoln answers this time. As I silently pray the door flies open. Lincoln pokes his head out, and I sigh a breath of relief.

 

“Skye?” Lincoln asks, looking both surprised and confused at the same time. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I have something to tell you,” I respond. Lincoln’s gaze finds the folder. “Do you mind if we sit,” I say, gesturing to the folder, and then into his room. “This might take a while.”

 

“Not at all,” Lincoln responds. He smiles, though I know it’s not because he’s curious. I just can’t seem to place it....

 

I step into the room and sit down in a leathery chair. There ‘s another chair across from mine. A glass coffee table rests in between the chairs. As business-like as we can get in this hotel, I reckon.

 

“You know, I was beginning to think that the receptionist gave me the wrong room number just to spite me,” I say as Lincoln sits down.

 

Lincoln laughs and I smile. It feels good to hear someone else laugh, especially if their laugh sounds as adorable as Lincoln’s. Its been awhile since I’ve heard anyone laugh

 

“I’m surprised you even got my room number,” Lincoln said. “And that you found out where I’m staying.” He looks over at me before adding “Maybe I’m not that surprised. What’s the favor?”

 

“I’m not sure I would call it a favor,” I begin. Lincoln raises an eyebrow. “After the whole incident with Gordon and Jiaying, Shield has been looking for a way to protect the Inhumans. As you know, they’ve all scattered. We needed to find a way to keep them safe. The only thing we know is that Inhumans need to be kept a secret.” I pause. A pang of sadness hits me as I think of the two people who I trusted. My mom...well, she was my mom. Gordon was my friend. And they turned out to be some of the most evil people I’ve meet, excluding Ward and all of Hydra. I look over at Lincoln, who looks sad and sympathetic at the same time.

 

I take a deep breath and try to compose myself. “Anyway,” I continue. “We came up a solution of sorts. Coulson choose me to lead a team of Inhumans. A team that would protect other Inhumans and humans. Help those in need. Our team would be anonymous, so nobody would know who we are under the suits ”

 

I pause. “Why are you telling me?” Lincoln asks with a sort of hopeful tone of voice.

 

I take a deep breath and go for it. “I wanted to know if you’d join the team,” I say, waiting for his response.

 

Lincoln looks like he’s having an internal battle; he’s not sure what to do. After a few long minutes of silence, he gives me his verdict. “I don’t think so,” he responds. He looks like he’s about to beat himself up for giving that response. Like he knows he screwed up.

 

“Why not,” I ask, sadness leaking into my voice.

 

Lincoln bites his lip, as if he’s forcing himself to lie. “I don’t think I’m cut for it,” he says, his voice cracking a bit.

  
“Of course you are,” I say, astounded. “Lincoln, you’re amazing. With your powers, we can help everyone who needs us. Isn’t that what you want?”


	2. Picking the Team Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Skye get Lincoln to join her team? Who else will make an appearance? Read it to find out

**Picking the Team: Part 2**

“Skye,” he says in a pleading voice, one that asks me to drop the subject while simultaneously cracking my heart. He makes it seem like I’m the one breaking his heart into a thousand pieces.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Focus Skye, I tell myself. If Lincoln won’t talk about why he won’t join my team, maybe he’ll help me recruit members for my team. He has to.

I open my eyes and force myself to look at Lincoln. “Lincoln,” I begin. He opens his mouth to speak, but I can see in his eyes that really doesn’t have the heart to. I put my hand up and he closes his mouth. “I don’t know why don’t want to join my team, but I do know one thing. And that’s that when I needed help, you were the one who saved me. It wasn’t May or any of my Shield friends. It was you, Lincoln. For that, I’m grateful. Look, you don’t have to join my team. You don’t have to fight a single battle with us. I just need a friend to help me put the team together. Someone who knows a lot of the Inhumans. Most of all, I need someone I can trust helping me. Can you be that friend for me, Lincoln?

The room is deadly quiet. I feel like knives are cutting into my skin. I wait as the pained look on Lincoln’s face disappears, only to be replaced by his brilliant smile. After what feels like ages, he looks up at me.

“I think I can be that friend for you, Skye,” he says, smiling as if he never said no.

I resisted the urge to squeal as I stand up and walk towards Lincoln. “Thank you” I tell him as I wrap my arms around him. “You have no idea how much this means to me,” I add as he hugs me back. I feel butterflies in my stomach. “You’re not going to regret this.”

“I doubt I will,” Lincoln says under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he says as he takes a step back. His adorable quirky smile makes its way onto his face. I shake my head. Lincoln’s just my friend, and I need to focus.

“There's just one tiny detail I might’ve left out,” I say, giving Lincoln an apologetic smile.

“And what’s that?” he asks.

“Since you’ll be helping me, you’re going to have to crash with us back at the Shield base. It’ll take a while to get the team together so you’ll get your own bunk. That way, you don’t have to drive here and back every day.”

“That’ll be fine,” Lincoln says, responding much faster than I expect him to.

“Great,” I say. “Let’s go.”

“First, I have to get my stuff,”

“Right,” I say, mentally facepalming myself for forgetting about that. “Let me help you with that.”

Lincoln nods, telling me that he’s accepted my help. We walk toward his suitcase, both grinning as if nothing ever happened.

* * *

Once we made it back to the car, I call Coulson to inform him that Lincoln and I were on our way back to the base. Coulson took that as his cue to get a bunk ready for Lincoln. After I shut down, I look over at Lincoln, who’d already put all of his luggage into the trunk and had proceeded to take his seat in the car.

I open the door and sit in the driver’s seat. After I begin the long drive back to the playground, Lincoln speaks up.

“How did you get my room number? How did you even find me?” he asks.

“To answer your second question first, I was a hacktivist. No camera can hide you from my sight.” Lincoln chuckled. “So,” I continued, “a camera spotted you leaving this hotel, so I drove up here and stayed the night so I wouldn’t have to wake you up in the middle of the night. The next morning, I went up to the receptionist and told her that you had an important meeting to go to and you left your speech in class.” I gesture to the folder with one hand. “As a result, the receptionist gave me your room number. To be honest, I think she thought we were dating.”

We both laughed awkwardly before looking away. I focused on the road, but eventually the awkward silence got to me.  

“What’s going to happen with your med school?”

Lincoln raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Since you’ve missed so much of it already, I just thought you were going to finish off the semester.”

“Well, since I’ve missed most of the semester already there’s not much I can do. I’ll probably have to retake all my classes next semester anyway,” he responds.

“Sorry for dragging you into all of this.”

“It’s not your fault Skye.”

“But it kind of is, Lincoln. If I never came to Afterlife then none of this would’ve happened. My mother wouldn’t be dead. Raina would be alive, Coulson would still have his arm, and the Inhumans would be living in secrecy where nobody would ever find them!”

“It’s not your fault Skye,” Lincoln repeats softly. “You didn’t know any of this was going to happen. You didn’t even want to get your powers. Jiaying was already evil. There was nothing you could do to change that. What happened happened, Skye, and we all have to live with it. There’s no way to change that.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, trying to keep my gaze on the road.

Lincoln leans over and puts his hand on top of mine. I look over at him before glancing back to the road, just to make sure I wasn’t going to crash into someone.

“You didn’t do anything, Skye. There’s no need to apologize. We all could’ve done better. It wasn’t your fault, and it never will be, okay?”

I nod my head and turn on the radio. We sit in a comfortable silence, and Lincoln takes his hand off of mine, probably so I can do a better job driving. I smile a bit and try to enjoy the rest of the drive home.

* * *

Ever since Lincoln came to the base, the atmosphere changed for the better. At first it was a bit awkward, but his optimism changed that very quickly. That aside, it took Lincoln and I almost five months to get a second member on my team.The first was obviously me. We went through a lot of people, and I was still considering about a few of them, but most of them didn’t seem to fit the team’s needs.

“Alright, we can find someone else,” Lincoln says after I reject yet another “promising” Inhuman. We’d been here for four and a half months. We had been through hundreds of Inhumans, with five of them pending acceptance.

Suddenly, Lincoln smirks.

“What?” I ask, slightly nervous about what he’s going to do.

“What about Alisha?” he asks with the smirk still plastered to his face.

“Who’s Alisha?”

He laughs. “She’s this redhead, and she had the most amazing power.” His tone of voice is sarcastic. “She can clone her herself.”

I glare at Lincoln, which causes him to laugh harder. “I don’t think so,” I say while giving Lincoln a pointed look. He was nodding through fits of laughter. “And stop laughing,” I add with a smile as I smack his arm.

His laughter subsides as he suggests yet another qualified Inhuman. “How about Crystal?” he asks.

“Nice name,” I say, “but I think you’re forgetting that I don’t know who Crystal is.”

He chuckles. “She has the power to manipulate the four basic elements. She tends to be more affected by pollutants, but being able to control water, fire, earth, and air seems like a pretty good tradeoff to me.”

“So, she’s like Avatar?

“Yep,” Lincoln says with a smile. “I watch TV,” he adds after seeing the incredulous look on my face.

“That’s awesome!” I say excitedly. Avatar was one of the only shows I watched at this one orphanage that had a single television, and that was because everyone else thought it was lame. “Does she help save the world? Does she wear this weird robe thing? Does she have this big blue arrow on her forehead?”

Lincoln laughs, and the sound brings a smile to my face. “Slow down, Tremors” he says. I stick my tongue out at him, and he laughs. “I don’t think she has or does any of those things.”

“She needs to be on my team,” I say. It would be beyond cool to have a real life Avatar on my team. And they say that animated shows and movies can never come true. Well take that haters.

“Great,” Lincoln responds. “It looks like we have our first official potential member.”

“Time to tell Coulson,” I say while standing up. I grab Lincoln’s hand and pull him off the chair. As I grabbed Lincoln's hand, I felt a spark shoot up my arm. I glance over at Lincoln, who still looks amused by this whole thing. If anything, he’s smiling more than he was before. It didn’t seem like he shocked me. Strange.

I run all the way to Coulson’s office, pulling Lincoln behind me. I let go of Lincoln’s hand to open the door, and immediately miss his warmth. I walk into Coulson’s office, and he looks up at us.

“Lincoln, Skye,” he says, acknowledging our presence. “What can I do for you?”

“I think we’ve found the next member for the team,” I begin. “Her name is Crystal. She like Avatar.” Coulson gives me a confused look.

“She can control water, earth, fire, and air,” Lincoln explains.

Coulson nods. “Since you finally got your next member, you’d better find her. She can hang out at the base to begin her training like Lincoln,” Coulson says.

I nod. “You can take a quinjet to her her location,” he adds. “If she says yes, call me so we can get some bunks ready at your new hideout. I’ll give the pilot directions, and we’ll bring all your stuff over there. It’s a new training ground for your team. You’ll all bunk there until you’re comfortable working with each other and you’ve finished your training. Good luck.”

* * *

It doesn’t take me very long to find Crystal’s whereabouts. Unlike some people, she’s not trying to hide. The ride to her location is a rather silent one. I just sat there, thinking of ways to convince her to join my team. Lincoln sat next to me, but neither of us spoke a word. The only words we heard were those of the pilot, telling us that it was time to exit the jet.

We got off the jet a quarter-mile from her house, which was the closest landing area. Upon exiting, Lincoln and I begin our rather long trek to her neighborhood.

“Is she nice?” I ask Lincoln in an attempt to fight off my nerves and the silence.

“Yeah. Crystal’s nice, pretty, and awesome. She’s a bit of a ruler breaker, and she’s very stubborn. It’s what makes her so likeable. You two will get along fine.”

I nod, and I can’t help but feel a little jealous of Crystal. Lincoln spoke of her so fondly...no, it’s silly. I’m just jittery because I don’t know how she’ll react to what I say. Maybe Lincoln will come with me to talk to her...no, I have to do this alone. For some reason, I really don’t want Lincoln to talk to Crystal. I look up and notice that we’re about to reach the small town that Crystal lives in. She lives in a house a block from the town’s entrance.

“What’s the matter Skye?” Lincoln asks me, breaking the silence.

“Nothing,” I respond, flashing him a smile. Lincoln glances at me with a knowing look. A look that tells me that he knows that something’s bothering me; a look that tell me that he isn’t fooled by my smile.

I sigh. “I guess I’m just nervous about talking to Crystal. About what she’ll think, or what she’ll say.” I’m afraid that she’ll just laugh in my face. Afraid that Crystal won’t be as great as Lincoln says. Afraid that Lincoln won’t talk about me the way he talks about Crystal, but I feel like those things are best left unsaid.

“I know you’ll be fine, Skye. You always are.” Lincoln has sympathetic look on his face, but it’s also one of understanding.  One that makes me feel like he knows both what I said and what I left unsaid.

“I just don’t know what to say.” Frustration begins to claw at me.

“Hey,” Lincoln says as he grabs my arm, effectively stopping me in my tracks. “Don’t worry about it. Just relax and act natural. That’s when you’re at your best. You’re an amazing person with a spectacular cause, and if Crystal can’t see that, it’s her loss, not yours. When the time comes, you’ll know what to say. You always do.”

As he says this, I feel my cheeks heat up, and turn away in an attempt to hide it. “You’ll do fine, trust me.” Lincoln squeezes my hand. “Come on,” he says with a smile. “We’re almost there.”

We start walking again when I notice that Lincoln didn’t let go of my hand, so I don’t let go of his. Despite the butterflies in my stomach, it felt like it only took us three seconds to make it to Crystal’s house. Lincoln and I joked around until we reached our destination.

“Ready to go?” Lincoln asks me as we reach the edge of the yard.

“Yeah. Thanks for cheering me up,” I tell him with a smile.

“Anything for you, Skye,” Lincoln says. He squeezes my hand one last time before letting go. I smile at him before making my way to the front door. I take a deep breath and knock. Like Lincoln said, it’ll be fine.

* * *

As it turns out, Crystal was super chill. She was really eager to join my team and be a part of something bigger. Her response really helped boost my confidence. Over the last six months, Lincoln and I put together a pretty solid team. As of right now, there are eleven people on my team. Each one was willing to help, though some needed more convincing than others. Lincoln came with me to help recruit every member. I was still nervous about asking the Inhumans to join my team until after the fifth member said yes. Every time, Lincoln would comfort me by holding my hand. It was kind of a tradition,and we held hands before I asked every member to join my team. It seemed like neither of us ever wanted to let go.

So here we are, watching my team train in the training room at our secret base. My team members are Crystal, Arthur, Tom, Eobard, Roland, Pietro, Isabel, Linda, Alyssa, Ryla, and of course, me. As for a team name, I’m still partial to the Secret Warriors or the CATERPILARS,which was the name of our initiative, and is what all of our first initials spell when we put them together. The only thing we were missing was our second L.

I look over at Lincoln, who’s standing next to me. Over the last six months he’s become my closest friend. He’s already done so much for this team.

“Thanks for all your help Lincoln,” I say as we both watch over the training session. “This team wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for you.”

“You were the one who convinced them. Not me,” he responds, wearing his wonderful smile, one that I’ve grown to love. He turns to face me as I speak again.

“If you hadn’t told me about them, I wouldn’t have a team.” I smile. We’ve both grown fond of all my team members. They were all good people. I was blessed to have each one on the team.

“Will you be leaving soon?” I ask Lincoln. Of course, it was expected, especially since the team was together now. Secretly, I’m hoping that Lincoln will stay with us. Stay with me. After all, we were missing our second L.

Lincoln blinks, taken aback by the question. “You know, I hadn’t really thought about that. I guess I could go sometime next week.” He scratches the back of his neck as he says this.

He seemed sad, as if he didn’t want to leave. After all, he has grown quite fond of the team, even though he always tells me I’m his favorite team member. It was probably because I was the one asking the question. That aside, I know that I have to try to get Lincoln to stay. Who knows...maybe he changed his mind.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join the team?” I ask Lincoln. “There’ll always be room for you. Everyone on the team seems to like you. We couldn’t be CATERPILLARS without our second L, could we?”

Lincoln tries to look thoughtful, but I can tell that he’s already made up his mind. Yet, he still waits a few minutes before responding for who knows what reason. Each second passes by slowly.

“Well,” Lincoln begins before pausing. He’s trying to keep a straight face. The little rat was trying to bother me. I knew it! Lincoln broke out into one of his contagious goofy grins. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

I grin and punch him in the arm. “That’s awesome, Lincoln. I knew you’d join us. I had faith you.” I hoped, but they were similar things.

“Come on,” I say. “We need to get you registered.” I grab Lincoln’s hand, pulling him out the room. Crystal was capable of leading the training session. I glance back at Lincoln, who still has a big grin on his face, one that I’m sure mirrors my own. Who knew this kind of news could make two people so happy?

Lincoln and I busy ourselves by putting him on the team index. When we finish, we lounge around in the room that has been our cave for the past six months. We were the only ones who ever went in it.

“To be honest,” I say, “I was wasn't sure that you’d say yes.”

“At first,” Lincoln responds, “I wasn’t either. But after going through this whole journey with you, I couldn’t dream of doing anything else.”

“They’re all great people,” I say, trying not to think too much about the fact that Lincoln said that he went on this journey with me,

“So, who’s your favorite member of the team?” Lincoln asks me, popping the question that I had so frequently asked him.

I spend a moment considering the question. Crystal is a wonderful friend and human being. Eobard was kind of creepy. Ryla was a great cook, and Pietro was a hothead. Isabel has a brownie obsession, and she loves to bake with Alyssa, who’s shy and dedicated. Tom and Linda were both clowns, and our newest member Lincoln was an amazing friend.

“I don’t know, Lincoln?” I say sarcastically. “How about everyone but you?” He laughs.

“I am still your favorite member of the team?” I ask.

“Of course,” he responds. “You’re my best friend on the base Skye.”  
  


“Same to you, Sparky.” We both burst out laughing. I get up, and say, “Time to go back to training.” Lincoln stands up, and turns toward the door. Before he can start walking I grab his hand. He turns and looks at me.

“Hey,” I begin, not sure why I grabbed his hand in the first place. “I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done to help the team and the Shield agents at the base, especially Jemma. We all have to thank you for her return. You’ve helped me a lot. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, just ask.”

A mischievous smile makes it way to Lincoln’s face, making me regret my last statement.

“Well,” he says, “There is one thing…” Lincoln breaks off his sentence as he leans forward and kisses me gently. Kissing Lincoln makes me feel safe and at home, a feeling that I haven’t felt in a long time. The last person I kissed is now the head of Hydra. That memory still causes me pain, but I know that this moment with Lincoln’ll bring me the happiness I was afraid to obtain.

We break apart and I grab his hand. “Time to train,” I say as I drag him out of the room. We run to the training area, both grinning like idiots.

I don’t know what the future will bring. Maybe things will be awkward for a while, but what matters right now is the present. All our hopes and dreams begin with the now. And as of now I’ve found a way to be happy, to fit it, and that’s what matters most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading this! I'd appreciate it if you'd comment, and I'll post the second one shot in this series sometime next week

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment. Criticism of my writing is always accepted!


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